Helene von Bismarck
@helenebismarck.bsky.social
Historian and Writer, Anglophile and European. Dr. Phil. FRHistS. Senior Associate Fellow, RUSI.
All views strictly my own.
All views strictly my own.
Reposted by Helene von Bismarck
There are think tanks, NGOs, etc that inform and analyse in order to promote serious political debate and others (most?) much more interested in making lots of noise....front runners in first group include @resolutionfoundation.org @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social and @instituteforgovernment.org.uk
Resolution Foundation does some great, informative stuff on policy/politics. Really welcome antidote to the breathless obsession of most of Westminster village with who-said-whattery-when and meaningless opinion poll speculation about the next election. @resolutionfoundation.org
Is welfare spending ''out of control''?
It's estimated to be 10.8 per cent of GDP this financial year.
That's just 0.8 per cent of GDP higher than in 2007-08, and total welfare spending has actually fallen fallen by 1.2 per cent of GDP since 2012-13⤵️ buff.ly/s5mz97u
It's estimated to be 10.8 per cent of GDP this financial year.
That's just 0.8 per cent of GDP higher than in 2007-08, and total welfare spending has actually fallen fallen by 1.2 per cent of GDP since 2012-13⤵️ buff.ly/s5mz97u
November 29, 2025 at 2:02 PM
There are think tanks, NGOs, etc that inform and analyse in order to promote serious political debate and others (most?) much more interested in making lots of noise....front runners in first group include @resolutionfoundation.org @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social and @instituteforgovernment.org.uk
Reposted by Helene von Bismarck
Politicians and pundits who describe themselves as atheists while preaching "cultural Christianity“ are an *interesting* feature of current British politics.
November 28, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Politicians and pundits who describe themselves as atheists while preaching "cultural Christianity“ are an *interesting* feature of current British politics.
I find this deeply depressing.
When it was suggested in opposition that Starmer might write a 16,000 word pamphlet on his beliefs he was mocked by his own MPs on behalf of their voters. So many words!
November 28, 2025 at 7:01 PM
I find this deeply depressing.
This is very true and it affects authors too, because you know that every sentence you write could be taken apart aggressively and in bad faith.
Our information space is dominated by a system that demands and rewards continous and immediate emotional gratification, so you can't even begin to have a discussion about complex issues. It's a bright cancer that spreads and multiplies with every interaction.
It's part of the electionification of everything, which is why we as a country are failing to have a proper conversation about our actual problems. It's bad for the left *and* the right.
November 28, 2025 at 7:13 AM
This is very true and it affects authors too, because you know that every sentence you write could be taken apart aggressively and in bad faith.
Happy Thanksgiving to American followers.
November 27, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Happy Thanksgiving to American followers.
Patently untrue.
But a good line.
But a good line.
I once went to a debate between Bourdieu and Hobsbawm. Audience question about the difference between a French and a British intellectual. Bourdieu wittered on for ages. Then Hobsbawm stood up and said “There is no such thing as a British intellectual” and sat down again to much applause.
One of my colleagues went to a seminar at Berkeley and when someone asked a question Derrida brushed it off saying ‘what you ask may be important but it is not interesting’.
November 27, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Patently untrue.
But a good line.
But a good line.
Reposted by Helene von Bismarck
Fellows of the Society are elected for their 'original contribution to historical scholarship'.
Our new guide provides more on the many ways Fellows achieve this - with activities going well beyond publications bit.ly/48mpcJa We welcome Fellowship applications from historians of all kinds 1/2
Our new guide provides more on the many ways Fellows achieve this - with activities going well beyond publications bit.ly/48mpcJa We welcome Fellowship applications from historians of all kinds 1/2
November 27, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Fellows of the Society are elected for their 'original contribution to historical scholarship'.
Our new guide provides more on the many ways Fellows achieve this - with activities going well beyond publications bit.ly/48mpcJa We welcome Fellowship applications from historians of all kinds 1/2
Our new guide provides more on the many ways Fellows achieve this - with activities going well beyond publications bit.ly/48mpcJa We welcome Fellowship applications from historians of all kinds 1/2
Reposted by Helene von Bismarck
Great library of Venice: Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Libreria 1537-1560, designed by Jacopo Sansovino, influential Italian Renaissance architect & sculptor, died #OTD 1570; the library originally housed rare Greek manuscripts bequeathed to Venice by acclaimed scholar Cardinal Bessarion.
November 27, 2025 at 6:05 AM
Great library of Venice: Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Libreria 1537-1560, designed by Jacopo Sansovino, influential Italian Renaissance architect & sculptor, died #OTD 1570; the library originally housed rare Greek manuscripts bequeathed to Venice by acclaimed scholar Cardinal Bessarion.
Reposted by Helene von Bismarck
Ada, Countess of Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron, mathematician & a pioneer of computing; born 1815, died #OTD 1852. #WomeninStem
Painted by Margaret Sarah Carpenter 1836
UK Government Art Collection
Painted by Margaret Sarah Carpenter 1836
UK Government Art Collection
November 27, 2025 at 6:07 AM
Ada, Countess of Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron, mathematician & a pioneer of computing; born 1815, died #OTD 1852. #WomeninStem
Painted by Margaret Sarah Carpenter 1836
UK Government Art Collection
Painted by Margaret Sarah Carpenter 1836
UK Government Art Collection
Deleting (once again) because of wild ways in which things are being mosunderstood.
November 26, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Deleting (once again) because of wild ways in which things are being mosunderstood.
Reposted by Helene von Bismarck
Britain:
American taxes and Scandinavian public services for the old.
Scandinavian taxes and American public services for the young.
American taxes and Scandinavian public services for the old.
Scandinavian taxes and American public services for the young.
having gone to university as the last cohort of the 3k/year system never fails to give me a brief taste of that "last chopper out of Saigon" feeling boomers and, to an extent, Gen Xers have been getting for most of the past fifteen years or so
Student loan repayment thresholds frozen for a further three years.
More debt burden falling on graduates.
And even more reason to cut university places by 20-30%.
More debt burden falling on graduates.
And even more reason to cut university places by 20-30%.
November 26, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Britain:
American taxes and Scandinavian public services for the old.
Scandinavian taxes and American public services for the young.
American taxes and Scandinavian public services for the old.
Scandinavian taxes and American public services for the young.
Reposted by Helene von Bismarck
On Bregman, I was there in the audience and I can’t see what the BBC have gained by removing this line except more bad publicity. I will say that no such edits or censorship occurred when I gave the Reith Lectures and free-speech defenders might want think about whether this is the world they want.
November 25, 2025 at 12:11 PM
On Bregman, I was there in the audience and I can’t see what the BBC have gained by removing this line except more bad publicity. I will say that no such edits or censorship occurred when I gave the Reith Lectures and free-speech defenders might want think about whether this is the world they want.
Not good.
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Not good.
This is so important. People who study international relations love to fight over whether interests or values define relationships. It is both. An interest is something you define. And your values come into the equation. It is not either or.
What Trump has made me realise is how much the post-Cold War relationship hinged on shared values rather than shared interests. Trump is illustrating how, whether on Ukraine and Gaza, our interests diverge and, absent those values, there's not much holding us together.
November 25, 2025 at 9:38 AM
This is so important. People who study international relations love to fight over whether interests or values define relationships. It is both. An interest is something you define. And your values come into the equation. It is not either or.
This nonsense is not just mad and pernicious, it is just wildly entitled. Of course there are problems in Britain. But have a little look at the world around you, or indeed at the past. Where will you have such a nice free secure future? Genuine question.
November 24, 2025 at 7:38 PM
This nonsense is not just mad and pernicious, it is just wildly entitled. Of course there are problems in Britain. But have a little look at the world around you, or indeed at the past. Where will you have such a nice free secure future? Genuine question.
Reposted by Helene von Bismarck
I represented @houseoflords.parliament.uk at a Summit in Stockholm to remind the world of Crimea’s plight since 2014: killings, children sent to Russian camps, cultural heritage destroyed etc. Zelensky put it powerfully in his speech to us ‘Putin wants legal recognition for what he has stolen’.
November 24, 2025 at 4:53 PM
I represented @houseoflords.parliament.uk at a Summit in Stockholm to remind the world of Crimea’s plight since 2014: killings, children sent to Russian camps, cultural heritage destroyed etc. Zelensky put it powerfully in his speech to us ‘Putin wants legal recognition for what he has stolen’.
Reposted by Helene von Bismarck
We found that Jewish people were targeted with a wave of hatred & calls for violence on X after the heinous UK Heaton Park Synagogue attack.
Following this research, more than 30 cross-party MPs & peers are urging Ofcom to take action against antisemitism on X.
More in @politicshome.bsky.social ⤵️
Following this research, more than 30 cross-party MPs & peers are urging Ofcom to take action against antisemitism on X.
More in @politicshome.bsky.social ⤵️
Cross-Party MPs Demand Ofcom Investigation Into Antisemitism On X
Exclusive: A cross-party group of MPs and peers has demanded that Ofcom take action against a surge in antisemitic posts and calls for violence aga...
www.politicshome.com
November 21, 2025 at 2:20 PM
We found that Jewish people were targeted with a wave of hatred & calls for violence on X after the heinous UK Heaton Park Synagogue attack.
Following this research, more than 30 cross-party MPs & peers are urging Ofcom to take action against antisemitism on X.
More in @politicshome.bsky.social ⤵️
Following this research, more than 30 cross-party MPs & peers are urging Ofcom to take action against antisemitism on X.
More in @politicshome.bsky.social ⤵️
Reposted by Helene von Bismarck
This week we also launched a new Applied History Fellowship scheme, with @ihr.bsky.social and DC Thomson: bit.ly/4ijiuII
Fellowships will support recent post-doc historians and demonstrate the appeal of historical skills for employers. £12,000 for 6 months. Closing date: 31 Jan 2026 #Skystorians
Fellowships will support recent post-doc historians and demonstrate the appeal of historical skills for employers. £12,000 for 6 months. Closing date: 31 Jan 2026 #Skystorians
Society launches call for new Applied History Fellowships, with the Institute of Historical Research and DC Thomson - RHS
In November 2025, the Society joins with partners the Institute of Historical Research (IHR) and publisher DC Thomson to launch a new Applied History Fellowship programme to support recent post-doctor...
bit.ly
November 22, 2025 at 4:26 PM
This week we also launched a new Applied History Fellowship scheme, with @ihr.bsky.social and DC Thomson: bit.ly/4ijiuII
Fellowships will support recent post-doc historians and demonstrate the appeal of historical skills for employers. £12,000 for 6 months. Closing date: 31 Jan 2026 #Skystorians
Fellowships will support recent post-doc historians and demonstrate the appeal of historical skills for employers. £12,000 for 6 months. Closing date: 31 Jan 2026 #Skystorians
In 2010 I first spent an extended period of time in the US on research. And my main takesway from that time was how deluded Europeans in general are if we think of the US as little more than a very powerful extension of Europe on the other side of the Atlantic. This is not an anti-american point.
'America is British'.
It turns out Danny Kruger is peak 'Americans are the same as us'.
Until this mindset – conscious and subconscious – is defeated in Britain, we'll never see ourselves as properly European.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
It turns out Danny Kruger is peak 'Americans are the same as us'.
Until this mindset – conscious and subconscious – is defeated in Britain, we'll never see ourselves as properly European.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
‘America is British’. Heaven is ‘a socialist state’. David Attenborough is ‘anti-human’ – the startling theories of Reform MP Danny Kruger
He was a Conservative party big-hitter who wrote speeches for David Cameron and worked with Boris Johnson before he suddenly jumped ship. He talks family, flags and why Nigel Farage is ‘top dog’
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:01 AM
In 2010 I first spent an extended period of time in the US on research. And my main takesway from that time was how deluded Europeans in general are if we think of the US as little more than a very powerful extension of Europe on the other side of the Atlantic. This is not an anti-american point.
Reposted by Helene von Bismarck
Good morning and welcome to your short thread of FT Weekend highlight giftlinks for this very cold morning. Why not stay in bed and enjoy some high quality journalism. Links are free 300x that's all I have and the actual paper with all the weekend journalism you need is in the shops now!
November 22, 2025 at 8:21 AM
Good morning and welcome to your short thread of FT Weekend highlight giftlinks for this very cold morning. Why not stay in bed and enjoy some high quality journalism. Links are free 300x that's all I have and the actual paper with all the weekend journalism you need is in the shops now!
Why do men think LinkedIn is a dating Site?
Don‘t answer that.
I am just screaming into the void.
Don‘t answer that.
I am just screaming into the void.
November 21, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Why do men think LinkedIn is a dating Site?
Don‘t answer that.
I am just screaming into the void.
Don‘t answer that.
I am just screaming into the void.
This is very true. I supported lockdown because on balance it seemed necessary to avoid a catastrophe and because it seemed like the least back option. I still thought it was a terrible thing especially for children. Thinking that does not make me a lunatic COVID-sceptic.
I think that seems likely yeah. One of the almost infinite number of ways in which the culture war-ification of everything is ruining the world is it becomes impossible to have these conversations because saying e.g. "lockdown had some downsides" suggests you're One Of Them
November 21, 2025 at 10:07 AM
This is very true. I supported lockdown because on balance it seemed necessary to avoid a catastrophe and because it seemed like the least back option. I still thought it was a terrible thing especially for children. Thinking that does not make me a lunatic COVID-sceptic.
London is wonderful.
A friend from US has been staying in London this week - sight-seeing, culture, bars and restaurants. Central London has been buzzing. It’s been great and I’ve been proud of it. So there
November 21, 2025 at 9:51 AM
London is wonderful.
Reposted by Helene von Bismarck
Thanks @helenebismarck.bsky.social!
Yes, @columnist.bsky.social, I tried in my book to puncture some common UK delusions while warning of the dangers of entrenching a culture of despair. The country still has a lot going for it, as I point out.
linktr.ee/whateveryone...
Yes, @columnist.bsky.social, I tried in my book to puncture some common UK delusions while warning of the dangers of entrenching a culture of despair. The country still has a lot going for it, as I point out.
linktr.ee/whateveryone...
November 21, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Thanks @helenebismarck.bsky.social!
Yes, @columnist.bsky.social, I tried in my book to puncture some common UK delusions while warning of the dangers of entrenching a culture of despair. The country still has a lot going for it, as I point out.
linktr.ee/whateveryone...
Yes, @columnist.bsky.social, I tried in my book to puncture some common UK delusions while warning of the dangers of entrenching a culture of despair. The country still has a lot going for it, as I point out.
linktr.ee/whateveryone...
Absolutely.
And a very problematic trope because it results in apathy, or worse, a desire to smash everything up.
@mikepeeljourno.bsky.social wrote about that.
And a very problematic trope because it results in apathy, or worse, a desire to smash everything up.
@mikepeeljourno.bsky.social wrote about that.
That said I’m also minded to think that the story of national decline is now so entrenched (on all sides by pretty much everyone) that it’s now itself a bit of a trope.
November 21, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Absolutely.
And a very problematic trope because it results in apathy, or worse, a desire to smash everything up.
@mikepeeljourno.bsky.social wrote about that.
And a very problematic trope because it results in apathy, or worse, a desire to smash everything up.
@mikepeeljourno.bsky.social wrote about that.